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Nightfall:Begin Again
June 16th 11:20 PM Anaheim California, Shane's House PM Omniance: Shane's house is in Anaheim, about a mile away from Disneyland. It's nicer than one would think, but obviously an older place that's been fixed up a lot over the passed few years. They pull up in Shane's large pickup truck, Ricky, Lucas, and Yuri sitting in the back, with Nemo and Shane in the front seats. It's been a fairly long drive, nearly seven hours, so they've rested up quite a bit since leaving. They elected to bury Odie's remains in the desert, Monument Valley, on the way back, as he once said he always wanted to go back there again with all of them after the summer trip. Shane: As he pulls up to the house he reaches to his dashboard and presses a garage door opener, causing the front gate and the garage to both open at the same time. Well, here we are. He yawns slightly, having driven the whole way, though he's used to long drives as it's what he does for a living. Nemo: He looks back at Yuri, Ricky, and Lucas to see if they're awake. PM Arbi: Yuri: His comes out of invisibility, sitting beside Lucas. It looks like he just woke up from a nap but he tries to act like he was awake this whole time. Ricky: He waits until Shane stops the truck before he steps out, grabbing both his and Lucas's small luggage bags. PM Omniance: Lucas: He jumps down out of the large truck, stretching and then moving his shoulder a little bit and rubbing it. He looks around. Shane: You guys hungry? He walks around the front of the truck to look at Nemo, then Lucas and Ricky. They ate on the way, but that was about five hours ago. He twirls his key ring around his fingers and then catches them. PM Arbi: Yuri: He shakes his head before looking around the garage, thinking this home belongs to a whole family. Ricky: I'm starving. He waits for either Shane or Nemo to get inside so they can follow them. PM Omniance: Shane: He watches Yuri scoping out the place for a second, then looks to Lucas, who has mostly been quiet, for a moment before looking to Nemo. Well what do you think? Nemo: Go to that ribs place. Barbeque Ribs. He looks at Lucas. I know at least three of us likes that. He smirks, Lucas looks slightly annoyed and looks to Ricky. Nemo's smirk fades and he looks back to Shane. Just get that big family platter I guess. Shane: I'll go get that while Nemo gets you guys settled in. He walks around the truck and climbs back in. PM Arbi: Yuri: He watches Shane get back into the truck before looking back at Nemo. Does anyone else live here? PM Omniance: Nemo: It was Shane's uncle's place, but he bought it off of him after selling his house in Wildomar. Shane's brother and a few of his cousins lived here for a while, but they moved out with his uncle, or in his brother's case, gone off to college. So it's really just Shane and me now... Even then Shane's not really here much, because he drives a semi-truck across the country. He walks up to the door and pulls out a small set of keys. He has a large pack around his shoulder with Avo's book and some other things. Most of his supplies were still in the truck. So It's just a big house that we don't use much. Shane pulls out of the driveway and then drives down the street. PM Arbi: Ricky: He follows Nemo inside with the others, still holding onto their luggage. Yuri: Anything's better than sleeping in a motel room... He stretches a bit as he heads to the couch. PM Omniance: Nemo: Well you'll have some privacy here. Me and Shane have the master bedroom. He turns right and leads them down a really short hall. You can take Coty's old room, Yuri, He points straight down the hall at a door at the end. and Ricky and Lucas can take the that one, because that one's a little bigger I think. He points to a door that's near it. PM | Edited 5:00:02 PM Arbi: Ricky: He heads down the hallway and opens the door to the guest room, stepping inside and looking around before he puts the luggage down beside the bed. After a moment he looks back at Lucas. How you feeling? PM Omniance: Lucas: He turns and looks up at Ricky with a sullen expression, like he's really not happy what everything that's happened, though there's obviously something else that's been bothering him too. I don't know. Guess I'm alright. PM Arbi: Ricky: Despite having slept earlier today he still looks a little tired. Yeah... I hate all this driving around too. PM Omniance: Lucas: He looks out into the hall and sighs. So any ideas on what the hell we're going to do? He looks back to Ricky. I feel like... Well we lost everything... We don't even have a car. PM Arbi: Ricky: He walks up to him and places his arm around him. Hey, we didn't lose everything... we still have your motorcycle. PM Omniance: Lucas: He just grabs onto Ricky and hugs him. He buries his face into Ricky's shoulder and his voice comes out muffled, and quiet. Why aren't you more mad at me? I did all this to us... PM Arbi: Ricky: He squeezes him. I told you it's not your fault, Vera... no one can blame you for what happened. He looks down at him. We can blame the other two in the living room... PM Omniance: Lucas: He lets out a frustrated sigh. I don't know what to do... I know what Nemo's been through, but I still don't think I like... Him. I don't like there being another person like me... PM Arbi: Ricky: I don't think you have to worry about that... you guys have a lot of differences. He looks down at him and smiles. Your smile is a lot cuter than his for one. PM Omniance: Lucas: He pulls back from Ricky and looks up at him, a smile breaking across his face. PM Arbi: Yuri: He opens the backdoor and turns on the light outside, lighting up the backyard of Shane's house so that he can walk around a bit. Feels really nice out tonight... He takes a look around, checking to see if they have a pool. PM Omniance: There's a small pool off to the side. Nemo: Not too hot, at least. He walks out behind Yuri, then looks up at the sky. It's clear, but the stars aren't as visible since they're in the city now. PM Arbi: Yuri: He walks up to the pool and looks down into it, seeing it looks pretty clean. I'm surprised you guys don't have a hot tub. PM Omniance: Nemo: You kidding? Just having the pool is enough work, really. Plus it's not like we're ever staving for heat in southern California. He walks up next to Yuri. PM Arbi: Yuri: He shrugs and squats down so he can move his hand through the pool water. After everything we went through this week I wouldn't mind hopping into a hot tub and relaxing... PM Omniance: Nemo: ...That does sound nice... He sighs. After a long moment, watching Yuri run his hand through the water, he looks away. So what's with the people you're talking to? PM Arbi: Yuri: His question catches him off guard and he stops moving his hand around the water. What? PM | Edited 5:52:48 PM Omniance: Nemo: Earlier... When we were outside in the sun today, there was clearly someone else there with us, helping against the demon's influence. Then Kitty said you were talking to yourself. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back down towards the water and goes quiet. It doesn't look like he wants to talk about what happened. I started seeing them yesterday... PM Omniance: Nemo: Who are they? People you know? You knew? PM Arbi: Yuri: It still looks like he doesn't want to talk about this. They were my friends... that one's I... He stops himself and pulls his hand away from the water. The one's that died. PM | Edited 6:07:56 PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks away from Yuri. The girl isn't your friend. I could actually see her manifest... He sits down next to Yuri and looks up at the sky. ...If it bothers you so much, we can just ignore it for now... But... He looks to Yuri. PM Arbi: Yuri: I haven't seen them around since I walked out into the sun... He looks back at Nemo. Maybe it was just a one time thing and won't happen again. PM Omniance: Nemo: He smiles a little, but knows that's probably not the case. Maybe they were just there to help... He sighs and looks back to the water. God knows we needed it... PM Arbi: Yuri: He thinks back to what happened after Belxephon got sent back to hell and how he just stood there in the sun. ...I'm glad you were there with me, to talk me out of staying in the sun. PM Omniance: Nemo: If by "talk you out", you mean "peel away the grasp of a demon, through shear will-power while fighting through the horrible pain of my still-slashed up chest," then you're welcome. He smiles a little. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back at him, a little worried. I could only hear your voice... I didn't realize... PM Omniance: Nemo: It's ok. He looks back to the water. Breaking the time-stream was the hard part... Some demons and cuts on my chest was easy. PM Arbi: Yuri: I could say the same thing about high school... everything felt so much easier back then. PM Omniance: Nemo: He nods. Yeah... Sorta... Hanging out at the arcade... He smirks. I remember when it first opened... We were so excided. We saved up lunch money and took the bus there after school without even asking mom and dad... We were still in middle school... I remember you wasted all your quarters on Binding of Isaac... He watches the water as he reminisces. ...They didn't even have Rebirth or Wrath of the Lamb yet... Only three playable characters. He smiles softly for a moment. PM Arbi: Yuri: He smiles as he remembers going to the arcade the first month it opened up. It was the only arcade place around for miles... It felt like Christmas all year long. PM | Edited 6:39:54 PM Omniance: Nemo: A very pro-longed and expensive Christmas... He pulls his knees up to his chest. I think that's when you- Lucas: Started your habit of stealing other people's lunches. Nemo: He turns and looks up at Lucas, wondering how long he'd been standing there. Lucas: He looks at Yuri. Shane's back... With the ribs or whatever. He just turns and walks back towards the house. PM Arbi: Yuri: Lucas- He's about to walk up to stop him but sees him head back inside with the others. He stops, not wanting to start any drama around Ricky or Shane. PM Omniance: Nemo: He waits for Lucas to go back inside. I guess he's still not very happy with me... He sighs and then stands up after a moment, turning away from the pool. PM Arbi: Yuri: He walks back up to Nemo and pats his back. It's probably the hair, you should dye it blue again. PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks at Yuri and smirks. It's been blue for so long, I'm not used to it being brown anymore. He messes his hair up a little as he touches it. Think I should find a way to change my eye color back too? PM Arbi: Yuri: You sure you can make it the same blue color? PM Omniance: Nemo: Might take a little while, but changing eye color isn't really that hard. I could always just buy some contacts... He shrugs. PM Arbi: Yuri: I think doing a little alchemy is a lot less painful then trying to put contacts in your eyes every morning for the rest of your life... PM Omniance: Nemo: Yeah... Contacts are awful... He nods and starts heading for the door. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back towards the backdoor when he starts smelling the ribs. I think I'm gonna try one of those ribs. You coming? PM Omniance: Nemo: I guess eating is a thing I'll have to do more often now... He catches up to Yuri. But not too much... We have to make sure Lucas is the fat one. PM Omniance: A few days later... Kit is sitting in Sister Jude's office. He doesn't look very happy. Sister Jude: She's sitting across from him at her desk, looking at him. As always she's in her old-fashioned nun attire. Every since you got back you've been running these kids into the ground. One of the kid's parents were in here earlier today, you made their son do so many laps his feet started to bleed. What was that about? Kit: He complained about running. He leans back, it's obvious he feels bad now. So I made him run more. Sister Jude: You're one of the most-like teachers here, but now I'm getting complaints. This is worse than when you first started working here. Kit: Most of the kids hate you, and you're fine with that. Sister Jude: My job isn't to make them like me, Kit. My job is to make sure they grow up to become normal god-fearing adults. She drums her fingers on the desk once. Your job is to keep them from getting fat, and you can't do that if you run them to death. Kit: It won't happen again. Sister Jude: You're damn right it won't. She lets out a long sigh and stands up, walking over to the corner and grabbing her coat. Let's go. Kit: He looks confused, looking up from her desk. Where are we going? Sister Jude: We're going to see Alexe, because you need someone to talk to about what's going on, maybe he'll get Father Justus to give some words of wisdom. Kit: Right now? It's already late at night. Sister Jude: I hope I didn't ruin all your nightly plans of standing around in the gym doing karate for ten hours. She opens the door to her office. Now let's go! Kit: He stands up and follows her out. About three hours later they're hiking up the side of the mountain. Kit: You alright? Sister Jude: I'm fine. She looks around. I may look old but I'm not that old. Not yet. It's obvious this hike is taking the wind out of her, but she's stubborn enough for it not to matter. Kit: We scaled the cliff over there, last time I was here. Sister Jude: I'll remember to bring my climbing boots next time. Kit: And here I thought nuns could fly... Sister Jude: You may be fast and strong, but I can still box your ears into next week, so you watch that sarcasm. Kit: He smirks as they get to the top of the mountain. The sight is just as nice as it was the last time he was here. After a few second Jude walks up behind him, walking over to a rock and sitting down. He looks around for Alexe to see if he's here. PM | Edited 7:31:43 PM Arbi: There's a white tent just up ahead with a burning campfire nearby. While they're approaching the tent they can hear footsteps coming up the path. PM Omniance: Kit: He looks at the tent as he walks on ahead, Jude seems happy just to sit on the rock she's found, not paying attention as she adjusts her clothing. After a moment he looks in the direction of the footsteps. PM Arbi: Alexe: He's walking up the mountain path carrying two massive buckets of water on either side of him, each of them balanced with a large stick he's carrying on his back. Kit, is that you? His looks visibly tired as his face is covered in sweat. PM Omniance: Kit: He looks at the buckets, impressed by the amount of water he's carrying, but also confused. Yeah... What are you doing? PM Arbi: Alexe: I got tired of using the little canteens for water, they don't last nearly long enough up here... He keeps walking past Kit towards a little area behind the tent where he places down the buckets of water before he sees Jude sitting nearby. Sister Jude. It's good to see you again. PM Omniance: Sister Jude: Alexe. She stands up and walks over, brushing her hair from her face. It's strange that this place is a whole 'nother world. She walks up next to Kit. How have you been? PM Arbi: Alexe: I've been exhausted, almost everyday... but the experience of living in this new world is quite enjoyable. How have things been back home? PM Omniance: Sister Jude: She looks over at Kit, then back to Alexe. That's why we're here, actually. I was hoping you could help straighten Kit out a little, whatever charge Father Justus gave him has seemed to dampen his mood... She looks over at Kit. I hoped you two might be able to talk about what has happened. PM Arbi: Alexe: Sure, but not here... we still need more firewood. He picks up an woodcutting axe from inside the tent. You don't mind staying behind, do you, sister? No one will bother you up here, you have my word. PM Omniance: Sister Jude: Well it's not as if I'd have much trouble dealing with hooligans, it's what I do for a living. She pulls off her habit, then runs her hand through her hair as she sits down near the campfire. Kit: He looks from Jude to Alexe. PM Arbi: Alexe: Of course. He turns and starts walking back down the path he came from. Let's move. The path down the mountain isn't a short one but because of how close the forest is around this large mountain they arrive near the first trees just minutes after leaving the trail. You can talk and cut, right? He hands him the woodcutting axe and motions for the nearby tree. Tell me what happened. PM Omniance: Kit: He sighs as he grabs the axe. The assignment Justus sent me on- He swings and chops into the tree. -I had to help those twins... Or triplets, whatever- He swings. I watched one of them burn a crater into a park, in plain sight. He swings, obvious harder than the last two as it cuts deeper into the tree and woodchips fly away from the bark. I had him in my hands and I could've taken him down, and I didn't because killing him would've apparently killed his brother, or brothers... So I stayed with them- He swings. -Low and behold, the one that would've apparently died had I killed the other, becomes possessed- He swings and the tree makes a slight cracking sound with a loud chop as the axe hits it. -And I get stuck with them out in the middle of no where, and they perform some apocryphal ritual to summon a demon and save their friend- He swings. -But not before they kill Odie. Out of all of them he was the only one worth saving He swings really hard and the axe slams into the tree loudly, sending small chunks of wood outwards from it. The only one that actually helps people. The only one that hasn't killed anyone! He swings hard again, causing the same result. The tree starts to creak. The only one that willingly put his life on the line to save others selflessly. He swings again and the axe slams into the tree loudly, apparently getting stuck as he tries to pull at it several times, but it doesn't budge. PM Arbi: Alexe: He walks up beside Kit and grabs the axe handle, pulling it out of the tree and handing it back to him. ...What happened after he died? PM Omniance: Kit: ...I tried to kill all of them. He looks at Alexe. ...But I didn't, and it still feels like I should have. PM Arbi: Alexe: It's strange, they were all good friends with him... What could've drove them to end his life? PM Omniance: Kit: He was possessed. He swings at the tree. Had I just killed that boy in the alleyway, he'd probably still be alive. How many times is something like this going to happen to me? How many good people are going to die because I let them slip through my fingers? He swings at the tree with another hard slam. PM Arbi: Alexe: Was he there with them against his own will? PM Omniance: Kit: No. He swings. He was there willingly sacrificing himself for them. He sounds annoyed that someone like Odie would give his life for the others. PM | Edited 8:37:59 PM Arbi: Alexe: What do you think Odie would've done if he found out you killed one of his friends? PM Omniance: Kit: It doesn't matter. He'd still be alive to help save other people. He looks at Alexe. You know how many people this group has killed? Yuri alone is over a half dozen, that the public knows about. How many more might he kill? His life wasn't worth Odie's. No by a long shot. He looks back to the tree and swings. PM Arbi: Alexe: Those two brothers and all their friends have all been touched by dark forces and now walk a long and difficult path together, struggling to live normal lives.... that is why they all mean so much to each other. He watches him swing the axe one more time. Unfortunately the path Yuri has chosen is... profoundly more immoral and malevolent than the rest. PM Omniance: Kit: He stops swinging and looks at Alexe. So what am I to do? Father Justus sent me to judge him, and I failed. PM Arbi: Alexe: But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful... He walks up to the tree before turning around to look at Kit. We're not here to strike fear into the world but to love one another, to protect each other... We no longer see love in you, Kit. Vengeance has clouded your judgement... Wrath has become you. He steps out of the way to show Kit the tree he's been cutting, it's cut apart all over in anger. PM Omniance: Kit: He looks at the tree, seeing that he's destroying it, not chopping it down for wood. A simple task to collect firewood, and he's let his anger keep him from performing it. ...Then what is my purpose? He looks back to Alexe. I'm this way only because of vengeance... Those people that killed my family... When I gained this power it was to enact justice on the people that took them from me... He looks down. ...Maggie is dead because I couldn't see what was right in front of me... Almost a dozen others, because of that boy and his demon... I just... Don't understand what I'm supposed to do... You say I'm supposed to protect people... But I... I can't... People die around me.... I'm not protecting anyone. PM Arbi: Alexe: Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord... He walks up to Kit and gently grabs the woodcutting axe from him. Right now do not think of those you could not help but remember all the others you saved. You must learn to love yourself, Kit... before you are able to love others again. PM Omniance: Kit: He looks away from Alexe and balls his hand into a fist. When I was trying to kill them all, out there in the desert... I felt myself feed on my own rage... Like a wrath flowed through me and I could project it at them if I willed it to. He looks down at his hands. My hands actually burned with power... He looks back up at Alexe. Like my hatred could become a weapon that I could use... An Anathema to all of those who would do harm... He takes a deep breath and lets out a long sigh. The thought terrifies me in some ways I guess... That we don't know why we're here, or what we're fully capable of... He looks back at the tree. PM Arbi: Alexe: An angry man stirs up strife, and one given to wrath causes much transgression... PM Omniance: Kit: He sighs. I think... I think I might stay here for a little while, with you, if that's alright. He looks at Alexe. PM Arbi: Alexe: He looks up Kit for a moment before he raises the woodcutting axe, the handle pointing towards Kit. Are you willing to start all over again? PM Omniance: Kit: He looks at the axe, and then at the tree. What I'm doing isn't working... He looks back to the axe. So yes. He looks up at Alexe. I need to start over, with better judgment, and a clear outlook. He grabs the axe. My task is to cut down a tree, not destroy it so that won't harm anyone if it falls. He looks unsure of his own words, but also has a look of realization and thoughtfulness. PM Arbi: Alexe: He nods before he turns and starts walking deeper into the forest. Let us find you another tree then.